Camera carrying cases of various types are known in the art. These are frequently either hard shelled cases or camera bags intended to carry one or several cameras along with related equipment. Because of the need to carry a considerable quantity of related equipment therein, these devices are frequently quite large and heavy, making them unsuitable for carrying over great distances, particularly when the photographer may intend to use only a single camera on a trip, thus making the great capacity of the normal camera bag a burden rather than a benefit in the application. An example of a high capacity camera carrying case is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,610,286, issued to Cyr.
One solution to this problem has been the conventional form fitting camera case, which is molded or otherwise formed to fit the shape of a camera. These are well known in the field. However, the popularity of interchangeable camera lenses has caused these to become less popular, as such camera cases will ordinarily only fit a single camera body/lens combination properly, and it is impractical to have a different case for each body/lens combination. Another disadvantage of this type of case has been the fact that, while the capacity of larger camera cases may frequently be an excess burden, it is still desirable to have some capacity for the storage of film and a few small accessories.
Numerous devices for carrying a single camera upon the person of a photographer have been advanced in the field. For example, Tamrac, Inc., of Canoga Park, Calif. has offered at least two solutions to the problem, including a TelePak.sup..about. Adventure System which provides a pouch type container for a camera that can be worn on a waist belt or on a shoulder strap.
Alternatively, Tamrac, Inc. also offers an X-Press Strap.sup..about. Action Camera Harness which holds a camera at a "ready" position on the photographer's chest. This position is advantageous because the camera can be quickly accessed and because the camera is protected by the photographer's body, as opposed to hanging from the photographer's side where it might be more easily damaged. A chest mounted camera carrier is, essentially, as accessible as is a camera hung around the photographer's neck by a neck strap alone. However, a chest mounted camera carrier provides the additional advantage of preventing the camera from swinging around loosely and interfering with the motions of the photographer and, perhaps, damaging the camera as well. The X-Press Strap.sup..about. offers a very viable solution for its intended application. However, a need still exists for a chest type carrier which will provide padding to protect the camera for use in rugged terrain, and the like. Furthermore, a need still exists for a camera carrier of this general type which is versatile in the sense that it can be readily adapted to carry the camera on the photographer's waist or shoulder.
An important characteristic of a camera carrying system is versatility. This is particularly true since the demands of different photographers and different situations vary so greatly. The more versatile a camera carrying system is, in the sense that it can be adapted to accommodate these widely varying needs, the more useful the system would be. The previously mentioned Tamrac.sup..about. TelePak.sup..about. adventure system provides versatility in that a photographer can (by means of interchanging lens pouches, in the case of the TelePak.sup..about. adventure system) adapt the camera carrier to carry a camera with various sizes of lenses attached thereto. Furthermore, the TelePak.sup..about. adventure system is versatile in the sense that it can be carried using either a waist belt or a shoulder strap.
While the aforementioned prior art has taught that it is desirable to make a single camera carrying case such that cameras with various size lenses may be carried therein, the solutions offered have been less than totally successful in that either the camera is not closely held within the case to prevent its being knocked about therein, or else the photographer must possess a variety of accessories for adapting the case to closely fit a variety of camera body/lens combinations.
Furthermore, while the prior art has taught that it is often desirable to carry a camera on the photographer's chest, no means for doing so has been produced which provides the camera with a padded and enclosed container while still keeping the camera readily accessible.
A very important consideration concerning the versatility of camera cases involves the fact that the needs of a given photographer may vary greatly from day to day. Therefore, it is not sufficient to provide a camera case which is ideally suited to that photographer's needs at any given instant. To provide maximum utility, the photographer should be able to integrate the camera case into the totality of his or her needs and equipment such that, in those instances in which more equipment than can be carried in the small camera case is required, the small camera case combines with a larger case such that the small case does not become a redundant and unused piece of additional baggage. To the inventors' knowledge, none of the prior art small camera cases have adequately achieved this goal.
All of the prior art single camera carrying cases within the inventors' knowledge have not been sufficiently versatile to adapt to cameras having various sized lenses without having an assortment of adaptive accessories, or else they have not closely held and protected the camera therein.
No prior art camera cases, to the inventor's knowledge, have provided a means to optionally carry a camera at the ready position on a photographer's chest or to comfortably carry the camera on a waist belt.
No prior art single camera carrying cases within the inventors' knowledge have been well suited for carrying the camera within a larger case, such that the camera is easily accessible to the photographer while the small carrying case does not take up valuable space within the larger camera bag. All successful applications to date have either not been capable of holding a camera in the ready position, or else have not been adaptable to cameras having lenses of varying sizes, or else have not provided protection for the camera and storage space for film and small accessories.